South Jersey Nesties
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Please list some towns with good public school systems....
and how are the taxes in that area? Thanks!
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Re: Please list some towns with good public school systems....
Pretty much anywhere in SJ has good public schools....hell, anywhere in New Jersey.
I know that Burlington County has good schools, but I'm biased b/c I grew up there. I went to Tabernacle schools. Taxes are high from what I hear.
I also hear that any of the M towns are good (Medford, Medford Lakes, Moorestown, Marlton), but taxes are also pretty high.
Taxes all depend on what you consider high. What do you expect to be average for a $300k house?
I never understood this question. What makes a school district "good"? Aren't they all regulated under the state? I am genuinely curious.
We are looking for a new house (ours will go up for sale next week) and we live in Gloucester City and plan to move to another house in Gloucester. 80% of the city is trashy,and it boarders with Camden, but the taxes are great and it's an Abbot district so we have free all day pre-school and a slew of other services for children starting @ 3 years old that other districts in the area don't provide because of the cost. All of the programs are state funded and based on the needs of the residents.
I figure once my girls are old enough to be bothered/influenced by their less desireable classmates we can move out of the city or send them to a private school -- which I would NOT be able to afford if I were paying higher taxes.
We were hoping to move to Haddon Twp. to be closer to the speedline, but the idea of spending almost $9000/yr on taxes for a small 3br/2bath house drives me crazy.
Sorry to hijack your post, lol. Good luck!
Thanks! I'm hoping not go over $5K in taxes because I know they are just going to go up and up and up every year. I really think I just need to get out of Jersey. I currently pay $3200 for my small house.
I think there is a clear distinction between good and not-so-good schools, and my research lies in the school's report card: http://education.state.nj.us/rc/ There are tons of criteria, but the most important to me, is the percentage of HS grads attending a 4-year college/university. Of course, this is not everyone's criteria.
Property taxes are high in NJ all over, but I find that Gloucester Co. is less than Camden and Burlington Cos. Within Gloucester County, DH and I will eventually be looking to move to a town that attends Clearview Regional High School, like Mantua. I grew up in Wash. Twp. (parts of Sewell, Turnersville, Hurffville, grenloch, parts of Blackwood) and had a great experience and education there. It's just gotten too big for my preference (I graduated with 660 kids).
Schools in Camden County - like Shawnee (heck, any of the 'Indian' schools are good), Haddonfield, Moorestown, etc. are also top choices if you can afford the area.
Sorry so long-winded.
There are some area's in Sicklerville and Winslow that the schoold are not good. Not sure about taxes.
We are in Runnemede and bought a fixer upper nothing major 3br 1 bath and are adding a powder room. Our taxes are $4000 a year and the school system is good too. We live in a boro so no township. Not sure if that's why the taxes are lower but i don't care.
It depends on the house you are looking for also. I am sure a $300,000 house in my area has much higher taxes than I do.
You'll be hard pressed to find taxes under $5k in Burlington. Best bet is to head further south in NJ or head out of state.
Heck, my condo is almost $3k in taxes and we're expecting that to be a little more than double with our house. You could get into Burlington County if you were willing to live in a townhouse or larger condo where the taxes would be less than a single family home.
Like the other girls said, you really need to look at things (like that website) and figure out what are your priorities.
From my anecdotal standpoint, I think the best quality/taxes ratio in Southern Jersey is Logan Twp. Their taxes are the lowest in the area and they attend their own school K-8 and then Kingsway, which is a good school, although becoming crowded.
$5k in taxes will be tough to come by on a larger house anywhere, though.
I agree with Kat. Logan Twp is a nice area and the schools are pretty good from what I hear. Just stay out of Swedesboro if you are looking to pay lower taxes. Right now it's about $8k/year in taxes to live in a townhouse that's around $250k. It's crazy! And I am sure the taxes will get even higher soon now that they plan on building a new wing onto Kingsway HS soon.
This.
I live in a what is considered a condo (because we do not own any of the land surrounding us) and our taxes are $4200 for 2010. This is Burlington Township, which I consider to be in a decent school district, however, I'm sure the taxes raise exponentially for SFH and more land.
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I agree with Kat's Logan Twp recommendation - they generally have lower taxes than surrounding areas and have good schools. I would love to find our next house in Logan instead of paying my too high Swedesboro taxes!
I agree though - it's going to be tough no matter where you go to avoid high taxes.
EB - my parents live in Mantua Twp and pay pretty high taxes (not as high as ours, but high). I went to Clearview.
If you do want to look in Burlington County I suggest Hainesport or Westampton. Both are K-8 districts that feed into Rancocas Valley Regional HS. Taxes are very affordable in these two areas, without compromising good education.
Really? We were thinking of looking in Eastampton but heard some not very good things about RVHS. Did we hear wrong?
I'm a teacher and a parent. I look forward to sending my own children to RV.
H and I both grew up in the area. We have experience at RV and the K-8 sending districts, as students and educators. I think Eastampton is a great town and their schools have a good reputation. The taxes there are higher than neighboring Westampton and Hainesport, but do not seem outrageous.
Okay, so I looked it up on the report card site and I have another question. And I promise, I'm NOT being snarky (i just wanted to clarify since it's hard to tell how things come across via the written word). It looks like SAT scores for RVHS are pretty much below state average across the board. So, what considerations go into saying a school is a good one or has a good rep? For me, there are so many towns around here with above average scores that I would probably discount one that didn't without even looking at home values or property taxes. Okay, discuss :-)
There are definitely "good" vs. "bad" schools. And of course the good ones are where the taxes are highest. I am speaking now as both a parent and a teacher.
In looking at a district now, I am looking at test scores and the school's report card to tell me how kids perform. A lot of this also has to do with the socioeconomic make-up of the area, the standard of education in the town (like do the parents really value education.)
RV is okay. A good friend teaches there and said just that. Its okay. I'd say its probably getting better too b/c a lot of the sending district towns are getting better, building up,etc. I can only speak for Burlington County but good districts there = Moorsetown, Delran, Cinnaminson, any of the Indian schools and there sending districts. I don't live or work in any of those towns currently. But the Burlington Co. Times does school report cards every year. Its a good place to look.